At a media briefing in Tokyo, Stratton, now president of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, said Verizon is "compelled" to abide by laws of countries it operates in and accused the three big tech companies of pandering to customers.

"I appreciate that the consumer-centric IT firms that you referenced (Yahoo, Google, Microsoft) that it's important to grandstand a bit, and wave their arms and protest loudly so as not to offend the sensibility of their customers," Stratton said, according to ZDNet. "This is a more important issue than that which is generated in a press release. This is a matter of national security."

IT companies are proceeding with a lawsuit against the NSA over allegations they gave the U.S. government special access to their users' information.

At stake is how much the companies are allowed to disclose to their customers about the information they provide to the government as a part of secret surveillance and counterterrorism programs.

But Stratton said that as a company, Verizon follows the law, and those laws are set by governments.

"The laws are not set by Verizon, they are set by the governments in which we operate. I think its important for us to recognise that we participate in debate, as citizens, but as a company I have obligations that I am going to follow."

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